Bibiano Fernandes rips ‘insolent’ Dae Hwan Kim for illegal elbows

For the first time in his MMA career, Bibiano Fernandes finished a fight after going past the first round, but there’s a reason why Dae Hwan Kim survived that long at ONE FC 23.

The ONE FC bantamweight champion, who improved his winning streak to nine on Dec. 5, submitted Kim with a second-round rear-naked choke. However, he had to overcome a tough situation when Kim landed several illegal elbows to the back of his head in the opening round.

The referee deducted a point, but that didn’t prevent the South Korean fighter from hurting Fernandes.

“I knew everything he would do, except those seven illegal elbows he landed on the back of my head and neck,” Fernandes told MMAFighting.com. “Those elbows shut down my right shoulder, it went numb and I couldn’t move, I couldn’t strike. Between rounds my coach asked me if I broke my hand because I wasn’t punching, and I told him what happened. My neck, my shoulder, I couldn’t move.”

In the second round, Fernandes took Kim’s back and jumped for the choke, scoring his first finish since 2012.

“Thank God I was able to submit that guy,” Fernandes said. “It ended as I was planning. He’s an insolent, he doesn’t respect anyone. He’s like Joe Warren, talks s–t all the time, has a big mouth, so I wanted to finish him.”

Kim earned a shot at the ONE FC gold after building a 10-0-1 record and, according to Fernandes, feeling unbeatable was the reason why he lost in Pasay City, Philippines.

“When a kid like that wins 10 fights, is undefeated and hungry, he makes a lot of mistakes,” “The Flash” said. “I watched his past fights and I saw he opens himself too much while trying to finish the fight, and that’s not a smart thing to do when you’re fighting a guy like me because I’m dangerous on the ground. My jiu-jitsu is top level, and I have many ways to attack you with triangles, armbars, back takes. I wasn’t surprised at all by anything he did on the ground.”

For the first time in his MMA career, Bibiano Fernandes finished a fight after going past the first round, but there’s a reason why Dae Hwan Kim survived that long at ONE FC 23.

The ONE FC bantamweight champion, who improved his winning streak to nine on Dec. 5, submitted Kim with a second-round rear-naked choke. However, he had to overcome a tough situation when Kim landed several illegal elbows to the back of his head in the opening round.

The referee deducted a point, but that didn’t prevent the South Korean fighter from hurting Fernandes.

“I knew everything he would do, except those seven illegal elbows he landed on the back of my head and neck,” Fernandes told MMAFighting.com. “Those elbows shut down my right shoulder, it went numb and I couldn’t move, I couldn’t strike. Between rounds my coach asked me if I broke my hand because I wasn’t punching, and I told him what happened. My neck, my shoulder, I couldn’t move.”

In the second round, Fernandes took Kim’s back and jumped for the choke, scoring his first finish since 2012.

“Thank God I was able to submit that guy,” Fernandes said. “It ended as I was planning. He’s an insolent, he doesn’t respect anyone. He’s like Joe Warren, talks s–t all the time, has a big mouth, so I wanted to finish him.”

Kim earned a shot at the ONE FC gold after building a 10-0-1 record and, according to Fernandes, feeling unbeatable was the reason why he lost in Pasay City, Philippines.

“When a kid like that wins 10 fights, is undefeated and hungry, he makes a lot of mistakes,” “The Flash” said. “I watched his past fights and I saw he opens himself too much while trying to finish the fight, and that’s not a smart thing to do when you’re fighting a guy like me because I’m dangerous on the ground. My jiu-jitsu is top level, and I have many ways to attack you with triangles, armbars, back takes. I wasn’t surprised at all by anything he did on the ground.”